"Ratings & Warnings" Document Updated

We have updated our Rating & Warning policy on the site, in accordance with discussion among SWG members and specific work undertaken by our inclusivity committee. You can find the new "Ratings and Warnings" document here.

Nothing has changed in terms of rating and warning policy. We have softened the language in hopes of communicating that in the vast number of cases, mistakes in ratings and warnings are not something we respond to punitively. We have also added clarity around the purpose of ratings and warnings, "retrospective" tagging, and how we respond to mistagged fanworks.

We've also added several new tagging options:

Domestic and Partner Violence
In-Universe Intolerance
- In-Universe Classism
- In-Universe Queerphobia/LGBTQIA+ Intolerance
- In-Universe Racism/Ethnocentrism
- In-Universe Sexism/Misogyny

The specific tags were based on a use-case exercise undertaken by several volunteers that showed that these were the tags most often needed. We also want to recognize that while the racism/ethnocentrism and classism tags reflected need during the use-case exercise, we also included them because we recognize that BIPOC fans and working-class fans are less present in our fandom due, at least in part, to marginalization they experience within the fandom. Making our site a safer and more welcoming space to fans who have historically felt unsafe and unwelcome in the Tolkien fandom is a priority for us.

Our work is not done here; we've received multiple requests to include a brief definition/description of each tag, so we'll be tackling that next.

As always, questions are welcome as a comment here or at moderator@silmarillionwritersguild.org. Finally, many, many thanks to all who worked on this project, especially the many of you who shared perspectives and ideas so thoughtfully throughout.

Posted on 2 September 2021 (updated 2 September 2021) by Dawn Felagund